Why use an external RIP for proofing?

Hi,

this might sound like a newbie question (it actually is). I've seen many printers that are usually used for creating proofs on ebay sold together with a PC and some software like EFI Colorproof. Do you need this software to be able to print on those printers? Are there no printer drivers provided?

I've always been creating my PDFs sending them to my print shop blissfully ignorant of what goes on once they receive my files. I I figured I could get a used Epson Stylus Pro and have my proofs right in-house. But there is more to it than I expected (isn't there always more to something than you thought?)

Hi, you can print with any printer with the drivers that the manufacturer provides. It works well for normal purposes. If you need to extract all the "juice" of the printer the best is to use a rip. Basically with the rip you have the ability of control the printer a lot more. The rip allow to configure the ink limit for each printhead for each paper that you are gonna use. A rip also uses diferent screenings and have parameters to control how to mix the printheads color for a better dithering and gives you a richer gamut. A good printer need a software that allow to the user to control al the parameters of the printer in order to expand the real capabilies and avoid the standar capabilities of the normal driver.

its not NECESSARY to use a RIP for anything, you can even proof accurately using something like profilemaker pro to create linearizatons and simulation profiles that can be verified. However, using a RIP greatly streamlines the process, provides auto-layout options (nestings) and generally allows you to use many more advanced features, such as independent control of each ink channel. Probably the biggest single advantage to using a RIP is being able to set up workflows that can be used simply as drag-and-drop printing outputs by people who don't have intimate knowledge of color management, as in a medium/large size retouching company for example.

To me the auto layout abilities are worth their weight in gold, and I wish terribly that there was some quick and easy way to nest multiple photos in photoshop or otherwise-- Its been so many years for which the only solutions i've seen have been for printing multiple copies of THE SAME image, instead of just a bunch of prints, as would get from a photo lab.